close-up – This Jolly Beggar

Giddy as a Gladiolus

If a man could pass through Paradise in a dream, and have a flower presented to him as a pledge that his soul had really been there, and if he found that flower in his hand when he awake – Aye, what then?
Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Something about ferns cheers me. Like seeing dandelions growing in pavement cracks, spotting ferns in bursts of green under shady trees or hanging under shady porches is like seeing familiar friends. This one hangs out on our deck enjoying the summer sun.

Standing Hosta Tall

For Cee’s FOTD Challenge, a stand of hosta after a heavy rainstorm, with one spray of blooms unbent and tall.

The storm had come and gone. She was still standing straight. She was standing in the shadow of something greater than her. Her shield. Her shelter. Her refuge for as long and as steady as life eternal.

Black-eyed Wanderer

For Cee’s FOTD Challenge, a lone wanderer and sudden distraction of color: the unexpected stranger in the garden. (Did you know? The black-eyed Susan is a North American flowering plant in the sunflower family.)

Gingko Fans

For Cee’s FOTD Challenge, fans of gingko leaves, a sheltering shade from the August heat.

“Dragon” In Orchid

For Cee’s FOTD Photo Challenge, an orchid finds its inner dragon.

Winged Messengers

For Cee’s FOTD Challenge, a stationary flight of orchids, a presentiment of heaven’s messengers of eternal beauty and holy joy.

Honey Bee Magnet

For Cee’s FOTD challenge, a perfect buzz of relish in a white crepe myrtle with mustard gold highlights that fool the unwary into mistaking a hive of activity for merely eye-catching blooms. Can you spot the busy bee?

A Lily of the Field

For Cee’s FOTD challenge, a lily in mid-life but devoid of crisis, neither toiling nor spinning, content to be clothed according to her Creator’s grand design, joyously alive.

Senorita by Sunlight

For Cee’s FOTD challenge, a sudden recognition of crimson, a swirl of fantasy in the moonlight becoming the mature, full-blossomed allure of a diva, unruffled by the sun’s heat, a garden show-stopper: the blood-red crepe myrtle.